Okay, let’s get the joke out of the way so we can roll up our sleeves and get to work here. Ready? It’s Mark Zuckerberg’s world. We’re just living in it.
Now that we’ve had a good chuckle… Well, wait, one more. Why exactly are there ads running lately for Instagram? There are even TV commercials for Facebook! Isn’t something like half the world signed up with Facebook? And you know that Facebook owns Instagram, right?
Make no mistake, things are happening on Instagram. To the casual observer, it’s a place to share your pictures of your new baby, your new car, your new house, your vacation, your birthday party, the sporting event you’re at, and so on.
To the business community, the savvy entrepreneur, and yes, the aspiring musician (I know, I know, among others), Instagram is a place to grow your community and engage with them meaningfully. Is it a lot of work? It can be. Are the results worth it though? Ask Diamond Dixie.
This Wednesday we will release Episode 226 of “Now Hear This Entertainment,” which features the interview that I did in Orlando approximately ten days ago. The country sister duo – Gabriela is 20 years old and Bianca is 18 – performed three times at the House of Blues last year alone, went to Nashville multiple times (including being at the 2017 Summer NAMM Show for Kyser Music Products), just played a new songwriters festival, and oh by the way, has 131 thousand followers on Instagram. The girls both sing, write, and play guitar (Bianca also plays banjo) and they obviously excel at social media.
If you are struggling with Instagram, download/listen to that interview when it comes out. The girls are very kind in sharing extensive insights into Instagram – their posts, responding to comments, and yes, even answering direct messages. I’m often heard bemoaning the fact that too many in the music community are caught up in the wrong CO word – competition – rather than getting into the right CO word – collaboration. Gabriela and Bianca are kind enough to have a giving attitude to the music community by providing information that the listeners can truly benefit from – even if those listeners are their ‘competition.’
I have been so inspired by the time I spent with them talking about Instagram – on and off the air – that I have challenged myself to step up my Instagram game. Over the last three days I have started using Instagram Stories, admittedly very late to the dance. Look at the @NowHearThisEntertainment account on Instagram and you’ll likely see one there, but, also notice my regular practices.
Not only should you be posting every single day (I even heard an Instagram expert at Social Media Marketing World say that you should post twice a day because you want to be mindful of different time zones), but you really need to leverage the hashtag. When you look at the @NowHearThisEntertainment Instagram account, notice two tactics that I employ in that regard: (1) I use the maximum 30 hashtags, and (2) I put them as the first comment on the photo, rather than in my caption/description. (Full disclosure – I don’t know why that gets better results…it just does. I learned it somewhere, employed it immediately, and have seen better results ever since) One other hint? Whenever possible, tag a location for your post!
What can you do to up your Instagram game? Challenge yourself. And contact me if I can help.
Talk about Instagram tips, challenges, questions, etc. in our Facebook group!